It's All Coming Back To Me Now
by Nutella23
Summary: Set in the near future after 12x05. Penny is put on Arizona's service.


**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

 **A/N: So this is me writing for the first time in years. This is for the Calzona50Ways challenge on tumblr.**

"Wilson, you're with Torres! Edwards, with Shepherd, Warren, with Karev, and Blake you're with Robbins. Good luck today, and try not to kill anyone!" Bailey said to no one in particular, but it stung for Penny. She didn't know if Bailey directed it towards her or not. She hadn't noticed any hostility from Bailey. Hell, she hadn't noticed hostility from anyone except for Amelia and Meredith. The rest of the people that were at the dinner pitied her, and gave her looks of just that. Pity. Now she was supposed to be with Arizona for a full day. She thought it was better than being with Meredith, but at the same time…how fun is it being with your girlfriend's ex? The same ex that went to save babies in Africa, survived a plane crash, and became a fetal surgeon overnight. 

Penny approached Arizona with trepidation, discomfort weighing her down. Arizona could feel the heat from a body behind her that was in her personal space and turned around meeting the face of Callie's girlfriend. Just great, she thought. Penny on the other hand looked like someone had killed her puppy. 

"Yes, Dr Blake?" Arizona asked coldly. She couldn't control her feelings anymore around Pretty Perfect Penny. Arizona couldn't feel good about Penny being berated by Meredith and Amelia because she deep down didn't like their behavior. She understood it, but she didn't like it. 

"Um Doctor Robbins…I've been told by Dr Bailey I'm going to be on your service today". Penny said nervously. 

Arizona looked down at her chart again and just said "Like hell you are". Penny was stunned to say the least. 

"Can I ask why, Doctor Robbins?" 

Arizona looked at her contemplating how she should put it without sounding like a bitch, or more precisely her old mentor. "Look Dr Blake, I'm sure you're great, but I'm not taking any risks with my patients. You can tell Dr Bailey that I don't want any liabilities on my service". Arizona said at the same time as she closed her chart, gave Penny a smile, and walked away. 

* * *

Arizona was just about to take a sip of her coffee in the attending's lounge when she felt like someone was watching her. She turned around and saw Callie. Callie did not look pleased, and Arizona closed her eyes because she knew what was coming. 

"I know, I know" Arizona held up her hands and took a step back "I shouldn't have let Sofia eat donuts this morning for breakfast, but in my defense I was stressed, and Deluca the stupid man left them lying on the coffee table." She said exhaling, waiting for the storm to come. 

"This isn't about Sofia" Callie said, and then there was a pause "wait, what? You let her eat donuts for breakfast?" Callie practically yelled shaking her head. "You know, that can wait. I'm not angry about Sofia". She said crossing her arms. 

Arizona raised her eyebrows "Okay, then what is it about?" 

"Penny" Callie simply answered. Arizona stood and nodded not knowing what it was about. 

"What about Penny?" 

"You know Arizona, I thought you liked her, but then you go and say that you're scared she's going to kill a baby". Callie scowled, and Arizona shook her head in disbelief. 

"What? I never said that!" Arizona was visibly irritated now. 

"You didn't?" Callie said, now clearly annoyed by how Arizona is acting immaturely. 

"No! I said she was a liability." Arizona said shaking her head. 

"Okay, so you didn't say you were scared she would kill a baby, you just said she was a liability?" Arizona nodded and Callie scoffed in disbelief "Okay, real mature Arizona. I didn't think you of all people would act like this. You know Penny wasn't at fault for Derek's death. It could've happened to anyone of us. Still you're standing here and acting like this". 

"No, Callie, no. This is not about Derek…" Arizona said but was interrupted by Callie. 

"I think it is so why won't you admit it, you know I" Callie didn't manage to finish her sentence before Arizona yelled "Shut up! Okay can you just shut your mouth for once Callie, and let me finish?" Arizona was raging now, and Callie just stood there with wide eyes. 

"What?" Callie asked clearly surprised by her ex-wife's sudden outburst. 

"What? What? Can you let me finish? I didn't tell Penny that she was a liability because of Derek. She's a surgeon I don't know anything about, okay? I don't know anything about her except for the fact that she was Derek's doctor. Do you think I want to let a complete stranger be around unborn babies? You know how much I was against even having Warren on my service. These are the most fragile patients in this hospital, so no I won't have her around them!" She exhaled, and was fuming with anger because who did Callie think she was?

"Okay" Callie said stunned by her ex-wife's outburst.

"Okay?" Arizona frowned "That's all you have to say?"

"Okay, I'm sorry…I shouldn't have assumed" Callie quietly said.

"Damn right you shouldn't." Arizona got up and went past Callie, and threw her coffee in the trashcan. "Now if you excuse me I'm going to go and try to save some lives". And with that Arizona was out of the door and Callie slumped down on the couch and pinched the bridge of her nose. She thought about how fine things were with Arizona lately, and now she messed it up.

* * *

Arizona was fuming by the time she had made it to the cafeteria. She barely even realized how much force she used as she practically threw her tray onto the table Alex and April were sitting at.

"Hey! What's up with you? You look like you need to get laid. Don't you think she needs to get laid, Kepner?" Alex asked snickering.

"Shut it Karev!" Arizona said not pleased at all at his comments. Sure she hadn't gotten laid in a while, but so what? This wasn't about that. At. All.

"Point proven" Alex said smiling at April. April gave him a look of disapproval and turned to Arizona.

"What is it? This isn't like you. Lately you've been all cheery and happy, so what's up?" April asked a bit concerned.

"Nothing" Arizona answered and saw looks of disbelief. "Look, Callie pissed me off that's all". She said looking down trying to calm herself. Just thinking about their argument almost made her lose her temper.

"What did she do? I thought you were friends, or well friendish" April asked.

Arizona told them both how Bailey had assigned Penny to her service, and how she rejected her, and then how Callie confronted her, and they had their fight.

"Dude, you women are just too much sometimes. You create drama for nothing." Alex said and continued eating. Arizona felt the rage again.

"Nothing? Nothing?" She widened her eyes. April looked around and saw that Arizona raising her voice had drawn some attention to their table. She gave the other people a tight smile and then grabbed Arizona's hand.

"Okay calm down, and take a few deep breaths" she tried to calm her friend.

Arizona pulled away and hissed, "Shut up April. Like who does she think she is? She goes to Callie instead of me? If she has a problem with me then she should come to me and say it. Instead she goes to Callie and cries perfect tears about how I treat her badly because of Derek. It had nothing to do with that. And then Callie steps up for her precious Penny, because Penny is perfect. Penny can't do anything wrong. Penny would never go to Africa. And Penny would never be bitter if she lost a leg. She would also never cheat, because that isn't what perfect girlfriends do!" April and Alex just looked at each other confused by where this went. Apparently Arizona was everything else, but okay with Callie having a girlfriend.

"Dude" Alex started, but didn't get to finish his sentence before he saw Arizona's eyes wander to the direction of the vending machine. The look in her eyes was very similar to a lion's when it spots a gazelle.

"There she is. I'm going to go and talk to her, and set things straight." Arizona said starting to get on her feet.

"Woah woah woah, no you aren't. Sit your ass down boss, and eat your lunch". Alex said grabbing Arizona by the arm and pulled her down. "Look I'm all for girls fighting in the cafeteria, but you need to choose your battles, and this? This isn't one of them".

"He's right Arizona. Nothing good can come of you getting into a fight in the middle of the cafeteria with Penny" April tried to calm down Arizona.

Arizona looked at April and gave her a small smile that showed the outlines of her dimples "You're right. Making a scene in the cafeteria doesn't make anything better" Arizona said remembering when she lost her temper after Derek died, and grabbed a carrot. Alex noticed that Arizona's behavior was still strange, but ignored it because he knew that it could take a while for her to cool off. Just when he was about to open his mouth, and ask her about a patient Arizona got up and started to walk away. Neither one of them had seen this side of Arizona in a long time.

"50 bucks Blake cries." Alex said laughing. April scowled at him, and Alex shrugged "What? The least I can do is enjoy it. So are you in?" he asked.

April made a silent prayer hoping Arizona would only use her words, and not her fists.

* * *

"Hey Penny!" Penny froze at the sound of her name. It was the first time since she got to the hospital someone really had asked for her attention, but she wasn't happy. She felt dread. Penny felt that the tone in Arizona's voice was hostile. Penny turned around and met blue eyes that pierced into her soul.

"Yes, doctor Robbins-?" she managed to get out weakly.

"I need to talk to you." Arizona looked around and saw that there were several eyes on them. Nobody says no to sit in the first row of some drama at this hospital. Alex was one of the people that looked like a boy during Christmas. A boy that wishes he had popcorn. "not here though" she said and pointed in the direction of the exit. Penny went ahead, and the two women went into a stairwell.

"So…what did you want to talk about" Penny asked nervously while she stood and watched Arizona pacing in front of her. At times Arizona would stop, and look up while starting to open her mouth to say something, but then she'd go back to pacing. Suddenly she pulled to a halt, and stood for a few seconds just looking at Penny. Penny looked like she was about to crap her pants.

"Why Penny? Why would you tell Callio- Callie about this morning? Why couldn't you come to me, and ask me directly why I chose to not have you on my service?" Arizona asked holding her hands on her hips.

"I don't know, I just…" Penny started to speak, but then she stopped and Arizona noticed she wasn't going to say anything else.

"I don't know, is just the crappiest answer I've heard in a long time. And trust me, I work a lot with Alex Karev so I've heard many crappy answers" Arizona dragged her hands through her hair. "See, this is why we have a policy of employees not dating each other. This could've been avoided. Do you have any idea how hard I've fought for the last two years to get Callie and myself to be on friendly terms?" Arizona asked.

Penny didn't know if it was a rhetorical question, or not so she just answered "No".

"No, no you don't. You know why? Because you've been around for like a month. Pretty, Perfect, and of course Precious Penny has managed to capture Callie's heart so much that Callie doesn't give a flying fuck about Sofia's two mothers' coexistence!" Arizona shook her head before continuing. She was on a roll now, and it didn't look like she would stop. "You have a good thing going for you. Callie is one of a kind. She is the most generous, loving, and beautiful woman on this planet." Arizona said pausing and somehow became lost in her thoughts, before shaking her head. "Don't fuck it up more than you already have. You do not want to be someone full of regrets." Because Arizona knew how it felt to regret letting Calliope Iphigenia Torres walk out.

For the first few months Arizona regretted not going after Callie on that horrible day. Later on she understood why Callie ended things. It was the right call for both of them. Arizona thought she had moved on, but it wasn't until this moment right now that she realized that she never did move on. She didn't cope through one-night stands. Instead she buried herself in her fellowship, and later on just work and Sofia. She never thought about Callie moving on. Well except for when she saw her with Steak Knives, but she wasn't jealous then. She was worried about Callie's safety. Then came Penny, and Penny was perfect. Penny called Callie Calliope. Arizona had some issues with her memory from the night of the dinner party from hell. For the first time she saw Callie having feelings for someone else. And she couldn't get up from her chair and leave, because she didn't want to bring any attention to herself. Besides, she felt like she couldn't leave Callie. Even though Callie only had eyes for PPPP, and that was what hurt the most. Because she remembered when Callie could block out anyone, and anything from a room when she was present.

 _What have I done?_

Arizona felt panic in her whole body. What had she done? How could she let the love of her life let her go? And how could she let her move on?

 _Shit shit shit_

"Arizona?" Arizona was brought out of her thoughts when she heard Penny's voice.

"Huh?"

"I asked if you were okay. You kind of zoned out". Penny asked, and Arizona could hear that Penny cared. Penny cared even though Arizona hadn't been nice to her at all this day. PPPP.

"Yeah…um…I'm fine…" Arizona said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Penny didn't really believe her words. "Look Penny, this day…it…I can work with you. Because when I look at you I want to hit you with a brick. I won't, but I feel an urge to do it. It isn't because you're a bad person. It's quite the opposite, you're PPPP". Arizona felt Penny's confusion. "PPPP means Pretty, Perfect, Precious, Penny. Because that's what you are. You're everything I'm not. I used to be all of those things, and some days I even think I am all of those things, but I don't think I am. Because Callie is with you, and I think I just realized I still love Callie. I don't want to spend another day without her by my side, but it doesn't matter what I want. She wants you, and not me, and I'll have to learn to accept that. So I can't work with you. It may seem unprofessional or whatever, but I can't. Because when I look at you I see…I see a woman that has what should've been mine. Callie is the love of my life, and I may, or I may not find someone else to love. But I know that it won't be a love anywhere near the one I've shared with Callie. So Penny, don't fuck this up. Cherish every moment you have with her. You're the luckiest woman on this planet". Arizona said with tears rolling down her cheeks. Tears she didn't even know she had. Arizona took one last look at Penny and left the stairwell. Penny stood still, and couldn't believe what had just happened, but her pager went off and she went to the ER.

A few seconds after Penny left another door closed a few floors up.

* * *

"This is amazing. Food that tastes this good can't be legal" Penny told Callie while taking a bite of the pasta Callie had prepared for them.

"Thank you" Callie said before digging in herself, and it actually was delicious.

While they were eating, Callie thought back to earlier that day when she had gone into the stairwell to go down to the ER. She didn't want to risk running into Arizona in an elevator. Not after she'd overheard what her ex-wife had said to Penny this afternoon.

Arizona still loved her. This came as a shock to Callie, but the more she thought about it, the more Arizona's behavior made sense. She had noticed Arizona getting drunk at the dinner. She had her hands full with the Penny/Meredith/Amelia drama, but she did notice Arizona. She always noticed Arizona. She just didn't get it until now. Arizona was jealous…in her own way. She's too proud to admit it, so she acts out. She got drunk to cope with the situation. Callie couldn't stop thinking about how broken Arizona sounded in that stairwell.

 _Arizona still loved her._

 _Did she love Arizona?_

 _No, she's with Penny now_.

 _Or?_

The dinner went on smoothly, but Callie couldn't stop thinking about Penny. She couldn't stop thinking about how much like Arizona she was. That is a faded version of Arizona. Penny was so easy to talk to, but so was Arizona when they just started dating. They could stay up all night just talking about everything, and nothing. Penny cared a lot for her patients, and so did Arizona. Penny was teased for her name as a kid, and she moved around very often.

 _Okay, it's getting creepy now._

Everything Penny was, Arizona was better. Was she dating Penny because she reminds her of Arizona at the start of their relationship? She hadn't seen those sides in Arizona in a long time, but lately she could see them. Did she make a mistake? Is she going to make a mistake? Is she with Penny for the right reasons? Callie felt the need to talk to Penny about what happened in the stairwell.

"Penny…we need to talk" Callie didn't even notice the words coming out of her mouth until they did. Penny looked at her, and knew what was coming.

* * *

Arizona heard a knock on the door, and looked at the watch. It was almost 11 in the evening. She couldn't sleep. She was exhausted, but she couldn't sleep. Deluca had been thrown out of the apartment because she needed time alone. Or well Sofia was there, and Arizona waited for her to fall asleep before she broke down. Kleenex could be seen everywhere, along with a big box of donuts. Arizona was almost astonished by how many times she's been in this position. Tears. Kleenex. Donuts.

Arizona didn't even bother to straighten her clothes because she was fairly confident it was Maggie coming to see if Deluca is home.

"Maggie, I'm getting tired of this" Arizona spoke as she opened the door. It wasn't Maggie though. It was Callie. Arizona had two thoughts. 1. Why was Callie there? And 2. Why do I look like a homeless person when Callie looks like…like heaven?

"Hi, am I interrupting anything?" Callie asked unsure about what kind of mood Arizona was in. She looked like she had been crying, and even though she wore old clothes that aren't supposed to be beautiful at all Arizona made them look beautiful.

Arizona didn't know what to say. Technically Callie was interrupting her cryfest. "No, not really" She said, and then she just stood there.

"Can I come in?" Callie asked carefully.

"Um…it depends. If you're here to fight then I'd much rather wait until the morning" Arizona answered, and it wasn't until then that she noticed how defeated Arizona really was. All she wanted to do was to hug her. But she didn't.

"I'm not here to fight" Callie said simply, and Arizona let her in. This was Callie's first time in the apartment. The handover of Sofia happened at school these days. Callie looked around and saw a bunch of Kleenex along with donuts. She contemplated if she should say anything, or not. "Rough night?".

"Yeah…um… I've been thinking about Tim…" She lied and hoped Callie would buy it. Which Callie didn't, but Callie decided not to say anything. Instead they stood in silence.

"Is there a reason you're here Callie?"

"Penny was over at my place tonight" Callie simply said. Arizona didn't know what hurt more, the fact that she once again was reminded of the fact that Callie and her aren't together anymore. Instead she lives with an intern. Or the fact that Penny was over at her place tonight. Why would Callie even say that?

"Okay…and?" Arizona said trying to look like she didn't care. However, she couldn't look at Callie so instead she looked down.

"I broke it off"

At those words Arizona looked up and blue eyes met brown eyes. She didn't know how to react to the fact that Callie had broken up with Penny. Was she here for comfort? Why would she even break up with her? They were happy less than 12 hours ago. The Arizona saw just a little hint of a smile on Callie's face. Which made Arizona even more confused than she was before.

"Why?"

"You know why." Callie's words made Arizona's heart beat faster. She didn't know why, because she actually didn't have a clue why Callie would break up with Penny, and then come to her and tell her.

"No, I don't".

"Well, for one because she might be PPPP, but she isn't AAAAAA+" Callie said smiling. Arizona was lost. Like really lost. It had been a long day, and she felt tired, and a bit slow.

"What?"

"Pretty, Perfect, Precious, Penny" Callie said, and Arizona's eyes widened. Where had she heard that? "Do you know what AAAAAA+" stands for?" Arizona thought for a second, but just shook her head.

"Awesome, Amazing, Adorable, Admirable, Alluring, Arizona". Arizona stood with her mouth slightly opened. Clearly shocked. Then she burst into tears. Callie stood motionless at first before bringing her arms around Arizona. She hadn't been this close to this woman in over two years. It wasn't until this moment that she knew how much she missed her. How much she craved for the other woman's touch. She whispered a mantra of "it's okay" into Arizona's ear, until she felt her calm down.

"Callie…what is this?" Arizona looked at Callie trying to read what was going on here really. Callie took Arizona's hand in her own, and sat them down on the couch.

"I heard you in the stairwell today…" Callie said hoping Arizona would understand where she was getting at. Which the other woman did. The mortified look on her face gave her away.

"Look Callie…" Callie didn't want to hear anymore so she did what she remembered being the only way to shut Arizona up. She kissed her. Callie pulled Arizona in and kissed her with passion. Arizona was shocked to say the least, and it took her a few seconds before she reciprocated the kiss. Arizona was the first to pull away, and she rested her forehead against Callie's whispering "What does the plus stand for?".

"Well I just thought it would sound cooler that way" Callie blushed at her own corniness and both women shared a laugh.

"So…where does this leave us? I mean what happens next?" Arizona asked a bit unsure about what was going on. Would Callie regret this in the morning?

"What happens next is that I'm forbidding you from ever again give Sofia donuts for breakfast". Callie half-joked. "We'll deal with the rest tomorrow." Callie said caressing Arizona's cheek and gave her another kiss.

Arizona looked at her in awe, and stood up to move away the donuts from the coffee table.

 **Please tell me what you thought :)**


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